Nigerian militants have released the remaining fifteen Shell
hostages late Wednesday, a local government official has
said.
According to Godknows Igali, the Secretary to Bayelsa State
Government, all remaining hostages have been released on Wednesday
night and no one was hurt.
Shell has also confirmed the recent releases.
Although Igali did not disclose whether any ransom was paid,
unconfirmed sources said that a large amount was spent to secure
freedom for the hostages.
Around 60 workers were taken hostage on Tuesday morning when
local militants seized a Shell flow station in Nigerian's oil-rich
Niger Delta.
The majority of these kidnapped were released on Tuesday
night.
Shell, which produces about half of the total exports of
Nigerian crude oil of 2.6 million barrels a day, said there had
been no casualties in the hostage-taking which resulted in a flow
station shutdown and production loss of some 12,000 barrels of oil
per day.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2006)
